Community rallies after Stephen lumberyard fire

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

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STEPHEN, Minn. — Jason Yutrzenka said he and his family are trying to put things back together after a fire burned down one of their two lumberyards on Friday, Nov. 13. He expressed his thanks for the outpouring of support from Stephen, Minn., community members.

“The support in a small town is just unbelievable, the texts and calls I’ve gotten,” he said. “We really, really appreciate that and can’t thank everybody enough.”

Stephen Builders Supply caught fire just after noon. There were no injuries, but the building was a total loss. Fire departments from Stephen, Argyle, Kennedy, Warren and Karlstad responded to the fire.

Shawn Rominski, chief of the Stephen Volunteer Fire Department, said it was 12:17 p.m. when he got the page about the fire. When he got there, the building was heavily engulfed in flames. It took until 8 or 9 p.m. for the bulk of the fire to be put out.

“It was one of our bigger businesses,” he said.

A main power pole, which stood behind the building, also was destroyed, leaving Stephen without power until 3 or 4 a.m., Yutrzenka said.

He said his wife and one of his sons were in the building when his son heard a loud “bang” in a storage room and found the room ablaze when he opened the door. When he couldn’t extinguish the fire, he called 911 and grabbed important information he could save. A local contractor working in town came over with his brothers and helped save some material for big projects that are underway.

It is one of two lumberyards the family owns, the other being Argyle Builders Supply. The family took over the businesses six years ago, but both lumberyards have been around for more than 50 years, Yutrzenka said.

“It’s devastating,” he said. “When you have small towns of 500, 600 people and very few businesses, to watch one go up in flames is pretty devastating, whether you’re the owner or community member. … We have wonderful community support.”

Michael Douglas said the business is a block and a half from his office. He heard the fire trucks, stepped out of the office and saw billowing smoke.

“It just went extremely fast,” he said. “It’s pretty devastating to the town. It’s a big part of our town and we don’t know where it’s going to go from here.”

Yutrzenka said the family spent time on Saturday trying to dry important papers saved from the fire.

“Just try to put stuff back together and figure out where to go from here,” he said.

He said he and his family are thankful for the people who showed up to help. One of the churches made food, as well as the grocery store and firefighters’ spouses set up food at the fire hall.

“People are giving up their family time to help us out and try to save our building,” he said.

• Contributed / Michael Douglas
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Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

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• Delaney Otto

Otto is the University of North Dakota reporter for the Grand Forks Herald.

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